The Department of Trade and Industry has recognized the City of Parañaque as the third most improved among highly urbanized cities in the country.
The DTI gave the special citation to Mayor Edwin Olivarez and other city officials during the 7th edition of the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) held recently at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
The 7th Regional Competitiveness Summit is participated in by 1,518 local government units (LGUs).
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the ranking would mean Parañaque City can do more in formulating programs more investments in order to improve competitiveness.
The Economic Dynamism Pillar of CMCI measures the economic activity and productivity of an LGU, which include the size and growth of the local economy (measured by business registrations, capital, revenue, and permits), capacity to generate jobs, cost of living, cost of business, among others.
In terms of “economic dynamism,” which measures the economic activity and productivity of an LGU, the top ten consisted of, in descending order: Pasay, Davao, Quezon City, Manila, Makati, Pasig, Baguio, Parañaque, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro.
Quezon City topped the “infrastructure” list, followed by Manila, Davao, Pasay, Makati, Cebu, Muntinlupa, Pasig, Parañaque, and Cagayan de Oro.
DTI also recognized local government units that significantly improved their performance in the CMCI. For Highly Urbanized City category, Valenzuela and Malabon shared the top spot, followed by Angeles, Pampanga (2nd) and Parañaque and Caloocan (3rd).
Records show the city’s economy has improved tremendously as business activity expanded under the leadership of Olivarez from 20,000 registered business establishments in 2013 to more than 25,000 in six years later.
Today, Parañaque prides itself with its efficient and business friendly services through an innovative, fully integrated and simplified (three-step) business processing system called Project ELO 2.0 making it easy for investors to transact business with the City.